Wind industry hops on the strugglebus without assurance of their precious tax credit

[Casino67]

Hot Air:

 

Question: If a new technology really holds boundless potential to not only meet the raucous, clamoring demand for a viable source of ‘green’ energy than can fit in with our infrastructure at a worthwhile expense, but also to turn a profit due to its efficient reliability as a smart alternative to traditional energy sources, then why would said technology be so dependent on a wildly generous federal subsidy for its survival?

 

Answer: It wouldn’t.

 

I know things work a little differently in the corrupted, rent-seeking, reality-denying la-la-land of eco-idealism, but here in the real world, when a new technology or idea presents real potential to turn into something that people actually want to buy, people invest in it. In the private market. Voluntarily. With their own money. That endeavor may succeed, or it may fail, but the risk is isolated to the people who chose to take a chance on it, and their interest in the project is about producing something consumers want to purchase — not about winning over votes by playing political favoritism and trying to engineer society’s makeup in the way that you deem more virtuous than another.

 

Wind energy has been afforded more opportunities than you can shake a stick at, à la the U.S. taxpayer, and they’re ability to compete in the free market is still pretty pathetic. Now that one of their biggest and longtime sources of federal support — the production tax credit — is in jeopardy, and the lobbyists and advocates are all of a dither trying to convince everyone that this subsidy is absolutely crucial for our country’s energy future, or something. From the NYT: